At long last Louise was nearing the end of her first two-week treatment cycle. She still had to have radiation daily but at least she would get a break from chemo, and at least she would get to come home. The hospital was incredibly boring. Half the time she felt too bad to go to the playroom. Everything in there was for little kids anyway. The in-room activities weren't great either. She never really cared for video games and all the books they had were the same boring books they had in school. She missed her collectables and her books. She missed listening to Gene play his keyboard and reading Tina's diary. She had spent most of the time in the hospital writing. Mainly writing and rewriting the letters she prayed her family would never have to read but knew they would.
"When do I get to go home again?" Louise asked.
"Tuesday afternoon. After your chemo. You will have to come back daily for your radiation, but we scheduled that for afternoon. So, you can still go to school at least part day." Dr. Rivera explained.
"I still have to go to school? With cancer?" Louise moaned.
"Well, you don't have to, but we find it's best for your mental state if you at least try to maintain your typical routine. Although you will be exempt from gym class until you get the port removed." Dr. Rivera explained.
Back at the Belcher apartment, Teddy was fixing up the kitchen. Thankfully the only real damage was to the microwave, stove, and wall above the stove. They found a decent microwave on sale for Black Friday. Then a few days later Teddy installed a new stove for Harley's parents. Their old one was in great condition, but they were moving soon and knew they could get more for their old house with upgraded appliances. They knew about Louise's illness and heard about the fire. They generously offered their old one to the Belchers. Teddy removed the old stove, purchased a new plug, replaced the tile, and painted the wall. Before installing the new appliance. The stove and microwave were installed. Teddy then decided he should clean the entire kitchen. He was bending down to organize the bowls better. When his mind flashed to Christmas a couple of years ago. When he got caught in the Santa trap Louise had set out. It was hard for him to believe that the same child who could set intricate traps, was now so weak she could barely get out of bed. God, this really was a dumb place to keep bowls. It was just too much and before he knew what was happening. He was tossing the bowls across the kitchen.
"This is such a dumb place to keep bowls! Come on, Bobby! You are smarter than that! You should keep your bowls somewhere better! And you should have noticed that Louise was sick sooner! Come on, Bobby! I know you are smarter than this!" Teddy snapped.
.
Next door Mort was filling out paperwork and preparing for the funeral he would host in about an hour. When he heard a strange commotion coming from the Belcher house. After fifteen years, he had grown used to the chaos. He just shrugged it off at first. Until he remembered Louise was still in the hospital, Bob and Linda were staying with her, and Big Bob had taken Tina and Gene to visit her. Teddy was alone. Now Teddy was prone to outbursts, but they rarely lasted this long, and he rarely actually damaged property. Concerned Mort set down his work and ran next door. The door was unlocked, so he let himself in. He raced up the stairs and found Teddy sitting on the floor screaming about bowls and Louise. The Belchers would be needing new bowls. Because pretty much every single one they owned was smashed and shattered. Teddy's hand was wrapped tightly around a shard of glass, blood was seeping out from between his fingers.
"Teddy! What's wrong?" Mort asked.
"That's a dumb place to keep bowls. Santa trap. Louise. Should have known sooner." Teddy replied.
"Teddy? Louise is in the hospital and Christmas is still weeks away. How could she have set a Santa trap?" Mort questioned.
"A few years ago. Louise set a Santa trap. They were gone and I got caught in it. I was stuck under the fridge, and I noticed where they keep their bowls. It's a really stupid place. I got reminded when I was cleaning. Then I just thought. Bobby and Lin should have noticed that Louise was sick sooner. She should not have gotten this sick. It's not fair." Teddy explained.
"Oh. Well Teddy the cancer Louise has it is pretty aggressive and grows fast. Plus, until the day she got so sick. Her symptoms were pretty mild. They really did catch it as soon as they could." Mort explained.
"It's not fair. It's just not fair." Teddy sobbed relaxing his hand.
"It's not but right now I am worried about you. You really did a number on yourself. You should get that stitched up. I will drive you to the ER, but I have a funeral in about an hour. Can you call Kathleen and see if she can meet us there?" Mort replied.
"Uh-huh" Teddy whimpered.
Back at the hospital, Bob was struggling to respond to a text from Mr. Fishodor. The landlord was naturally curious as to why the restaurant had not been open for nearly two weeks. Also reminding him the rent was due in a few days. Crap the rent was almost due. He had no idea where the money was going to come from. The weeks they were open in November actually did decent business, but Bob was still counting on the surge they always enjoyed in the days following Thanksgiving. When people did not feel like cooking or just needed a quick lunch to feed visiting loved ones. Now they were weeks short on business. Bob knew he probably should have left Louise and opened the restaurant, but he could not bear the thought of leaving his baby. Especially since Linda had to be extra careful due to her pregnancy. God they were about to have another mouth to feed, and Louise's medical bills were already pilling up. Losing two appliances was another blow. Though at this point Bob was just grateful Gene was OK. At least the stove was free, and Bob suspected that Teddy covered a lot more of the new microwave then he let on. Because he doubted seriously anybody was selling a microwave for ten dollars and yet when Teddy offered to go halfsies. He only asked for five dollars after making the purchase. Bob knew he had to confess to Mr. Fishodor. He wasn't going to have the rent this month and he wasn't sure when he would be able to pay. Right now, his only concern was Louise.
"Mr. Fishodor, it's Bob. I am sorry for being closed for so long and I am sorry to say I cannot make rent on Thursday. I don't know when I will have the money to pay this months' rent. In fact, I don't know when I will be able to pay rent again at all. See Louise had been sick for weeks. About a month ago it got to where we had to rush her to the hospital. They ran some tests and well. Louise has cancer. It's a rare form of pediatric lung cancer. She has the rarest type, it's rare in her age, and it's already very advanced. She has been in the hospital for two weeks and will be doing two-week cycles of chemo for the next three months. She will get a week off in between. As long as she remains stable. I will try to open in the off weeks. I am sorry."
Calvin Fishodor stood at his bar. Pretending to listen to Felix tell the same story about buying bananas at "Fresh Feed." That the younger Fishodor brother had talked about five hundred times already. How the kid working the produce department had brought out the ripe bananas and how when he was reaching for one. he accidentally grabbed the hands of an elderly woman. Who went on to offer to grab his banana. Aside from being a not super interesting story. It sounded an awful lot like "Clean Up on Aisle 69." A pornographic series Felix enjoyed that took place in a grocery store.
"Calvin? What do you think? Calvin?" Felix questioned.
"Hmm" Calvin inquired realizing he had been zoned out a lot longer than he thought.
"About changing from boxers to briefs!" Felix cried.
"Oh, I uh…." "BUZZZZZ!" Calvin started before being interrupted by the sound of his phone buzzing. Saved by the bell. "Sorry it's one of the tenants. I've got to take this." He apologized.
Relieved to have a distraction from Felix' incessant rambling. Calvin took his phone into his bedroom. It was Bob Belcher replying to his inquiry as to why the burger joint had been closed for two weeks. Calvin was expecting the usual nonsense. A random spur of the moment vacation or some other illogical reason to close an already under preforming business for days at a time. The response he received instead left him utterly shaken. Little Louise had cancer? How? She was so young and seemed so healthy. Now to find out she had cancer, and it was advanced.
"Bob I am so sorry. Don't worry about the rent this month. Just pay when you can."
Gene watched the world pass him by as Big Bob drove back towards Seymour's Bay. Another weekend, another attempt to see Louise. Different weekend same results as the previous one. Louise was tired and weak from chemo. She slept pretty much constantly. When she was awake all, she felt up to doing was watching TV. Until the screen made her nauseous and she had to close her eyes. "Just for a second." She would promise. Only to fall back asleep again. He had been warned that Louise wasn't doing well and would need to rest a lot. He figured he would at least get to spend time with his parents. Except Bob and Linda didn't seem to have much time for him either. He had brought the spa stuff for Spaturday with him. Figuring Linda would welcome the pampering. Instead, she spent all her time either with Louise or lying down in the room. He had tried to do the spa treatment on her while she slept. He was shocked to see that rather than being appreciative. She freaked out and told him to stop. Before running off to the bathroom. She locked the door and emerged after ages. With the mask washed off. He asked why and she said she would not be able to do Spaturday for a while. He asked why but she just changed the subject. Was Linda sick too? He did not think he could handle losing his sister and his mom. He didn't think he could handle losing anyone. What if she wasn't sick? What if she just didn't have time for him anymore? When Louise was first diagnosed. They had told him and Tina. That they would need to focus on Louise for a while. He just didn't think it would mean totally ignoring Tina and him.
It was early evening around five o'clock, when Tina returned home with Big Bob and Gene. The first thing she did upon returning to the apartment was race up the stairs to her room. Stopping only briefly to say hello to Teddy who was working in the kitchen. She noticed he had a bandage on his hand, he had not had when they left. She knew she probably should have asked if he was OK, but she was late for a video chat with Tammy, Jocelyn, Zeke, and Jimmy Junior. After grabbing the laptop from the living room. She entered her room and closed the door behind her. She logged into her account and was dismayed to see the others already deep into a chat.
"Hey sorry, I'm late. We were visiting Louise. She is coming home on Tuesday. For a few days at least." Tina apologized.
"Wow that's great Tina but we were talking. You really shouldn't interrupt." Tammy whined.
"Yeah, Tina don't be an interrupting cow. Moo. Moo who? Interrupting cow? That's you." Jocelyn added.
"Ignore them Tina, it's OK. They were just talking about leggings or lip gloss or something boring. Hold up, did you say Louise is coming home?" Zeke assured.
"Yes" Tina replied.
"That's great! Is she better?" Zeke asked.
"No just having a break from the chemo. She is still really sick." Tina sighed.
"Oh, I am sorry." Zeke apologized.
"OK! That is enough sad talk! Let's get back to glad talk! I am glad I bought an extra pair of leggings on Black Friday. I was going to by twelve but then I heard about this thing called a baker's dozen. So, I bought thirteen, but thirteen is unlucky. So, I bought fourteen." Tammy rambled.
"Then I bought fifteen. So, she bought sixteen. Cause sixteen is more than fifteen." Jocelyn added.
"Guys maybe we should let Tina talk about Louise a little longer. I mean you guys have been talking about shopping for an hour." Zeke suggested.
"Hey Tina. I heard my dad talking to Mr. Fishodor. Apparently, he is mad at your dad for staying closed. Yall might really be losing the restaurant." Jimmy Junior announced.
"What?" Tina gasped.
"I don't think this is a good time to discuss that." Zeke hissed.
"Guys. I…I have to go." Tina apologized.
Tina closed out of the chat, shut down the laptop, closed it, and left it on her desk. She walked over to her bed. Where she buried her head in the pillow. Could this really be happening? Were they really losing the restaurant? How would they pay for Louise's treatment without money? Bob and Linda were already extremely stressed about money. Were things really going to get worse?